As the navigation technology evolves, there is an effort to hybridize navigation information provided from different navigation information producing sources into a single navigation solution (typically covering position, velocity, and altitude/heading). Example navigation information producing sources may include an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a magnetometer, air-data, distance measuring equipment (DME), eLoran, odometers, radar-altimeter, maps, vision sensors, etc. The hybridizing of the different navigational information sources introduces the need for a technique which assures the integrity of this complex single navigation solution. Current integrity monitoring algorithms focus mainly on particular navigation parameters (mostly position) of the snap-shot GNSS or hybridized GNSS/INS systems without any regard to other navigation parameters. This however, is an approach not suitable for aiding sources with heterogeneous measurements.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an integrity monitoring technique of the navigation information provided by a navigation algorithm solution integrating complex and heterogeneous aiding sources.